Birthday Special: Bobby to Rudaali, times when Dimple Kapadia made our 'dil chahta hai' to cast her spell onscreen

By Tanmayi Savadi

on June 08, 2020

Born to a Gujarati businessman Chunibhai Kapadia and Betty on June 8, 1957, Dimple Kapadia gave a sassy, gorgeous and bold twist to Bollywood with her debut in 1973 with Bobby. Discovered by showman Raj Kapoor at a tender age, Dimple keenly strived on breaking stereotypes and expanded her range with unique characters. In over four decades, she set new boundaries in terms of acting and storytelling. Married to Rajesh Khanna when she was merely 15 years old, Dimple took a sabbatical from films after the birth of her daughters Twinkle Khanna and Rinke Khanna.

Despite a break, Dimple bounced back to acting and delivered numerous commercial as well as critical superhits. Blurring the line between parallel and mainstream cinema, she was a brand in herself. Today, as she celebrates her 63rd birthday, let’s take a look at some of her finest characters that made our 'dil chahta hai' to watch her often onscreen.

Bobby (1973)

Dimple entered into Bollywood with the iconic Bobby directed by Raj Kapoor in 1973. At the age of 16, she made people sit up to take notice of her innocent filled eyes, zeal and bold fashion sense. Playing the role of a teenager who falls in love with a rich boy got her the Filmfare Award for Best Female Actor.

Saagar(1985)

After a bout of unsuccessful films, 1985’s Saagar directed by Ramesh Sippy was hailed as the strongest comeback film of the phenomenal actress Dimple. She was back after a ten-year sabbatical, post separating from Rajesh Khanna. She reunited with her Bobby co-star Rishi Kapoor and created magic onscreen. The romantic drama was a critical as well as a commercial success. Dimple won Filmfare Award for Best Actress yet again.

Drishti (1990)

In the urban tale of love, Dimple played the role of Sandhya who falls in love with her friend’s nephew. Ahead of her time, the film was a mature story of affection and heartbreak and the actress gave yet another memorable character.

Lekin (1991)

Set in Rajasthan, Dimple’s Lekin thrilled the audience as well as critics. The actress didn’t just do the utmost justice to the character of Reva, who is caught between the realm of the living and the dead, but gave cinema one of its binge-worthy thrillers by Gulzar. Her eyes enchanted the viewers.

Rudaali (1993)

Rudaali introduced the audience to the Dimple they had never seen before. She painted a gut-wrenching picture as Shanichari from Rajasthan who is considered unlucky and blamed for everything that goes wrong, including her father’s death. As rudaali, a professional mourner, Dimple displayed her acting prowess to the core. Dimple received the National Film Award for Best Actress as well as Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress.

Krantiveer (1994)

As the journalist Megha Dixit in Krantiveer, Dimple left the audience stunned with the intensity in her performance. Holding her ground well, she proved to be an actress par excellence with uncommon roles. Her powerful act won her Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress.

Dil Chahta Hai (2001)

Restrained, mature and absolutely charming, Dimple as Tara Jaiswal gave Bollywood yet another character to cherish till eternity. Breaking past all stereotypes, she was progressive with her own insecurities and terms. A completely different role from what she did in the past, this avatar of Dimple was loved by one and all.

Finding Fanny (2014)

Dimple played the obnoxious Goan woman Rosalina in Homi Adajania’s Finding Fanny. Living her life on her own terms and maintaining the transparency in thoughts, this character of the actress was added a punch of fun.

Tenet (2020)

After Angrezi Medium, this year Dimple will be seen in Hollywood filmmaker Christopher Nolan’s action-thriller Tenet with Robert Pattinson. The actress will be playing the role of Susan. However, not much about Dimple’s character is known.